Combined level and square.



Patented Apr. 10; 1917.

i i l [M l T. M. WOODELL.

C OMBINED LEVEL AND SQUARE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 24.1916.

mawwg inrrnn eras rnrnivr orrron THOMAS M. WOODELL, 0F GLENWOOID, NORTH CAROLINA, A-SSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO EDGAR A. WOODELL, 0F GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA.

COMBINED LEVEL AND SQUARE.

Application filed July 24, 1916.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, THOMAS M. l/VooDnLL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Glenwood, in the county of Guilford and State of North Carolina, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Combined Levels and Squares, of which the fol lowing is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in combined levels and adjustable squares and has for one of its objects to improve the construction and increase the efficiency and utility of devices of this character.

Another object of the invention is to provide a simply constructed device comprising a body having leveling or plumbing bulbs, and with a blade movably connected thereto and adapted to be projected at right angles to the body to form a square.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in certain novel features of construction as hereinafter shown and described, and then specifically pointed out in the claims; and in the drawings illustrative of the preferred embodiment of the invention Figure l is a side elevation of the improved device, partly in section, with the square blade in folded position;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same from beneath;

Fig. 3 is a transverse section on the line 33 of-Fig. 1;

Fig. at is a detail view, illustrating the square blade portion of the implement projected or disposed at right angles to the body;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a portion of the body with the attachment removed;

Fig. 6 is a detached perspective view of a portion of the blade of the device;

Fig. 7 is a detached perspective view of the cover member.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and indicated in the accompanying drawings by the same reference characters.

The improved device comprises a body portion 10 of any suitable size .and of any suitable material, but preferably of the same proportions as an ordinary level implement and having the usual level bulb, indicated at 11, and the plumbing bulb, indicated .at 12, of the usual construction. The body 10 is Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 114), 1917.

Serial No. 111,021. m

likewise provided with hand holes 13 to facilitate handling of the implement.

Formed in the edge of the implement, op posite to the level bulb 11, is a longitudinally directed downwardly opening seat, indicated at 14. Formed in the body 10, at one end, is a transverse socket, indicated at 15, and communicating with the seat 14L at one end. The seat 14 opens downwardly, as before stated, while the socket 15 opens outwardly through one end of the body 10. The outwardly opening side of the socket 15 is pro vided with a closure plate 16 which is embedded in the material of the body 10 so that the outlines of the blade conform to the outlines of the body. The material of the body is cut away, as indicated at 17 in Fig. 5, to receive the terminals 18 of the closure member. One of the terminals 18 projects for a distance over the lower face of the seat 14L and is slotted, as shown at 19, so that the seat extends to the inner face of the closure plate 16. A pivot pin 20 extends through the body 10 and likewise through the seat 14 at its juncture with the socket 15.

A blade member, indicated as a whole at 21, is adapted to fit within the seat let when in one position, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and completely fills the seat, with its outer edge flush with the adjacent material of the body, so that, when the blade is withdrawn into the body, no portion projects beyond the same. The blade 21 is slotted at one end, as shown at 22, and the pin 20 extends through this slot, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 4. The blade 21 is rounded, as shown at 23, at the slotted end and is likewise cut away to form a lateral shoulder 24. Cavities 25 are formed in the sides of the body 10 to expose a portion of the blade 21, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, to enable the fingers of the operator to engage the blade when the latter is to be moved into its outer position.

The body 10 is preferably provided with graduations, representing inches and fractions of inches, and the like, as indicated at 26, while the blade 21 is provided with corresponding graduations, as indicated at 27. When the blade 21 is withdrawn into the body, the implement may be employed as an ordinary spirit level or plumbing implement, and when the blade 21 is projected by swinging it upon the pivot 20 and then thrusting the blade lengthwise until a portion of one end enters the socket 15 with the shoulder 2a in engagement with the adjacent terminal of the plate 16, the blade 21 will then be retained in position at right angles to the body 10, as shown in Fig. l, and constitute an effective carpenters square or like implement. 'lheblade 21 being rela tively thin and the body 10 being relatively wide, a considerable space is left between the side faces of the blade and the side faces of the body, so that the implement may be employed as an effective try-square, as will be obvious. The slotted portion of the blade will be constructed to closely engage in the socket 15, so that the blade will be held in accuate position at right angles to the body.

Suitable holding springs, indicated at 28, will be attached to the body 10 in position to exert force upon the blade 21 and hold the latter with sufficient force to prevent accidental displacement but will yield when an abnormal force is applied to the blade by the fingers of the operator, inserted within the recess 25. The body 10 will preferably be of wood, while the blade 21 will be of steel, and the guard members of brass or like metallic compound.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. A device of the class described comprising a body having a longitudinally directed seat opening through one edge thereof and a socket communicating with the seat and opening through the contiguous end of the body, a closure member for the socket and the adjacent end of the seat, a pivot extending through the body at the juncture of the seat and socket, a blade operating in the seat and socket and having a longitudinally di reeted slot through which the pivot passes, said blade being foldable within the seat when in withdrawn position and engaging in the socket and bearing against the closure member when in projected position.

and socket, a blade operating in the seat and socket and having a longitudinally directed slot through which the pivot passes, said blade being foldable within the seat when in withdrawn position and engaging in the socket and bearing in the slot of the closure and against the body of the same when in projected position.

3. A device of the class described comprising a body having a longitudinally directed seat opening through one edge thereof and a socket communicating with the seat and opening through the contiguous end of the body, a closure member for the socket and the adjacent end of the seat and having an inwardly directed offset provided with an inwardly opening slot, a pivot extending through the body at the juncture of the seat and socket, a blade operating in the seat and socket and having a longitudinally directed slot through which the pivot passes, and a stop shoulder spaced from its slotted end, said blade being foldable within the seat when in withdrawn position and engaging in the socket and bearing in the slot of the closure and against the body of the same with the stop shoulder of the blade engaging the closure at the inner end of its slot.

In testimony whereof I aiiiX my signature.

THOMAS M. wooDE'LL. 1.3.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

